Yeah, you have to better define what you're requirements would be. Getting
a lone man across the ocean isn't a big deal, as Heyerdahl proved in
Kon-Tiki. Getting a full crew and gear suitable for exploring and trade
with locals is another matter entirely.

"Tim" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm sure there were. I mean, If a cobbled raft (KonTiki) could sail the
Pacific, and Vikings could weather the North Atlantic in big row boats
with partial wind power, I'm sure somebody could come up with something
to navigate the "Horns" of S. America and Africa.



john0714 wrote:
On Sep. 6, 1522 the Spanish ship Victoria of the Magellan exposition
completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth. It even managed to
sail thousands of miles of open sea.
IIRC it is possible to circumnavigate the Earth and never get more than
2300 miles from land, the stretch between Easter Island and South
America, the next largest stretch is less than 1900 miles between the
Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island. Otherwise one can rermain much
closer to land. Was the Victoria the first ship capable of sailing
around the world had the crew known what to do? I wonder when the first
ships seaworthworthy enough to do so were built?

It seems to me the hardest part for the best ships of two thousand
years ago would be the stretch from Brazil around the horn to the
Pitcairn Islands. Were any of the ships that ancient seaworthy enough
to do so?